Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Court Workers
The department is proposing to delete four court workers in order to realize savings of $365,000 over two years. Statistics provided by the department seem to indicate that the caseload some of these court workers have is too low to justify their positions. Committee members note that the two positions are in smaller communities: one position in Fort Smith and one position in Yellowknife. It is obvious to committee members that if there has been an increase in the number of cases going to court there should have been a corresponding increase in the number of applications processed by the court workers. The statistics presented by the department seem to indicate the Court Worker Program model was flawed from its very beginning.
It was also noted that the budget also asks for ten positions in court services and one additional Territorial Court judge, for a total cost of $1.25 million under forced growth.
While the department managed to make a compelling case for the need for these two positions, the same cannot be said for the rationalization used to justify the reduction of services at the community level. Committee recommended that the department reconsider these reductions and look for other opportunities to utilize these court workers in the communities doing other things, such as supporting the activities of
Community Justice committees. In rejecting this recommendation, the department indicates the intransigence of embracing approaches that may be outside the current practices of the department. The response is that because the court workers help the accused in accessing legal aid, there would be a conflict of interest if they were to be involved in delivering victim services programs or assisting Community Justice committees.
It should be pointed out that any restorative justice program has two components to deal with, in that there is a victim and a perpetrator. It was obvious to the committee members that the department is not willing to look at other opportunities to utilize these positions at the community level. Members of the committee believe that court workers are the community’s vital link to the criminal justice system. When a court circuit comes to town, they are essentially strangers, and the court workers assist in ensuring that the accused show up so that the court time is not wasted. So on one hand the committee is being asked to support enhancing the ability of courts to deliver justice through hiring ten new positions and another Territorial Court judge, and on the other we are being asked to support the reduction of justice services at the community level.
Recommendation
The committee recommends that $91,000 be added to the operations expense for Corrections and Community Justice so that four court workers will continue employment and the department will have further opportunity to expand court workers’ duties and role in the communities.
I will ask my colleague Mr. Beaulieu to continue.